Nodaway County, Missouri - Chapter 30: Polk Township, 1910

Chapter 30: Polk Township

The most extensive township in Nodaway county is Polk, which con¬ tains one hundred and twenty-one square miles of territory. It is an even eleven miles square. Its boundaries have been subject to numerous changes with the passing of years and the formation of other sub-divisions of the county. At the May term of county court in 1845. Polk was defined as follows :

"Beginning at the northwest corner of Washington township, thence west with said township line till it intersects White Cloud township line, thence westwardly with said line until it intersects the line of Atchison town¬ ship, thence north with the east line of the aforesaid township to the south¬ east corner of Buchanan township, thence eastwardly so as to include the Gray settlement and the Mowery houses between One hundred and Two river and Platte river, thence east to the eastern boundary of Nodaway coun¬ ty, thence south to the place of beginning."

On March 19, 1861, another order of the county court made a change in the western part of the territory of this township, and again on June 14, 1866, other radical and far-reaching changes were effected, thus defining the present Polk township, which, without going into dry detail, may be defined brieflv in this manner: All the territory between the northeast corner of section 19, township 65, range 34; section 21, township 65, range 36; section 9, township 64, range 34; to the corner of section 7, township 64, range 35, these several numbers of sections indicating the corners of the township, commencing at the northeast corner of the same.

This township includes the seat of justice. Maryville, in the center of the territory, and, with Maryville, in 1900 had a population of seven thousand seven hundred and forty. Outside of Maryville it had an enumeration of three thousand one hundred and sixty-three.

Physical Features

The topography of Polk township is somewhat diversified in its appear¬ ance. The land lies gently sloping toward the south, so that the water courses flow in that direction. One-third the distance from the east line flows One

Hundred and Two river, from north to south, its chief tributaries being the Mowry, Mozingo and White Cloud creeks. The valley of the One Hundred and Two river is from a half to one mile wide and along it are found natural groves with all the timber common to this part of Missouri. A water shed is found crossing the northwestern portion of this township and passes partly down the western side, dividing the headwaters of the White Cloud from the sources of the south branch of Clear creek and Florida creek, which streams flow into the Nodaway river.

The alluvial soil is from three to ten feet deep in the valleys, while the rich, productive vegetable mould on the uplands ranges from one to three feet in thickness. While corn is king, all other grains and grasses find in this soil a congenial home for their roots. Years ago this township was largely devoted to stock raising and as a consequence the husbandmen have grown prosperous and wealthy. High grades of cattle and horses make their an¬ nual exhibits and carry with them first premiums.

Pioneer Settlers

The One Hundred and Two river and White Cloud creek were the first stopping places of white men when seeking homes in what is now Polk town¬ ship. The earliest of these frontiersmen was Thomas Adams. He came from some one of the southern counties in Missouri in 1840, and claimed land in what is now the south part of the city of Maryville. There he erected him a cabin in the grove long since styled "Adams' Grove." Originally, this belt of timber contained about one thousand acres, it being largely of the burr oak variety. Here pioneer Adams cleared up a patch of twenty acres. Nine years later, he sold and went to Texas.

Noah Garren made his advent here in 1840, locating in a grove on the ridge four miles southeast of Maryville and a mile to the east of One Hun¬ dred and Two river. He resided there until 1849, when he moved to the northeast part of the county.

In 1840, John Mozingo and his two sons, Allen and Silas, took claims four miles southeast of Maryville. They emigrated from Culpeper county, Tennessee, and took an interest there until others came in and settled about them; they were true pioneer characters. The father built a cabin and im¬ proved his land. Allen died in 1878. Both sons were hunters and kept many hounds for the chase.

John Trosper came from Tennessee in 1840, and claimed land three miles southeast of present Maryville, on the east side of the river. He built a cabin fourteen feet square, and the end was cut out for chimney purposes. The whole was daubed with mud, within and without. The chimney had mud backs and jams and two square rocks were used for andirons. A few seedling apple trees were raised and some were still standing in the late eighties, pos¬ sibly now. These trees had grown to be as large as barrels at their base and some years bore twenty bushels of fruit each. Several cherry trees planted by the hand of this man attained one foot in diameter and bore won¬ derful crops of luscious fruit. They still bore cherries in 1885. Mr. Trosper was a hunter and was counted a very remarkable man for his genuine hospi¬ tality. He went to Kansas in i860 and died there.

The Lanham brothers came in 1841, and settled on One Hundred and Two river, four miles east and a trifle north of present Maryville. Subse¬ quently, they went to Texas.

William Saunders, a brother of James Saunders, came to this township in 1846, trading for land in the north part of town. He was murdered and robbed in Maryville in 1879.

In 1843 came John Jackson from Ohio and settled on a claim two miles north of Maryville. He was treasurer of Nodaway county from 1845 t0 1849. He was an excellent farmer and an exemplary citizen. He died in 1873. One year the receipts of the entire county was not over three hundred dollars and the treasurer received one dollar and twenty-five cents for his services. Mr. Jackson kept his office at his home.

Another early settler was A. Terhune, who emigrated from Indiana, ar¬ riving in Andrew county, Missouri, in the spring of 1841. He located six miles north of the present city of Savannah,- at Bennett's Lane. This was the first place in that section where enough settlements were contiguous when fenced as to form a road. Bennett's Lane was known throughout Andrew and Nodaway counties. This lane ran north and south about three miles. On the east side of the lane were located the farms of Elisha, John, Isaiah and William Bennett and also the farms of a Mr. Hayes and John Wilson. On the west side were settled Jacob Bohart, John Ferrins, David Terhune, David Brock, Lyman Ashley and A. Terhune. A. Terhune lived there until 1848, when he moved to Nodaway county, settling a mile north of Skidmore and there built the fourth mill in the county. In 1841, when he came to Andrew county, there was only a corn cracker, called Davis & Stanberry's mill, on One Hundred and Two river. This was three miles east of Savannah. Hollister's mill, on the Nodaway, two miles west of the present town of Filmore, was the next mill in Andrew county, built in 1842. The next mill in Andrew county was erected in 1843, 011 Lincoln creek, four or five miles to the west of present Savannah. White Hall was a very small place and had only a few goods for sale.

Settlers went to Liberty, Clay county, to secure anything of importance in the line of supplies for the farm and household. Some of the pioneers would volunteer and go to Liberty for a wagon load of groceries, which would be divided among the neighbors. It took about eight days to make the round trip to Liberty and two or three yoke of oxen were usually at¬ tached to the wagon. Often two neighbors would go together, sleeping in the wagon, and killing game and cooking the same for their meals.

The fourth mill in Nodaway county was built by A. Terhune and Erastus Downing. It was a small frame, located on the Nodaway river, near the present site of Skidmore. It required two years to build and complete this mill and then it only had one run of stones. The irons and machinery were hauled from St. Louis. Downing, being a blacksmith, forged out the bar iron used in the mill.

Mr. Terhune sold his interest in the mill in 1851 to E. Downing and went to a point on the river, where present Quitman stands, and bought a mill site of Hiram Lee, who had been there several years and who had built the third mill in the county. He had put a log across the stream about eighty feet long, in sections, then put in a brush dam. The flume where the water was let into the mill was made of split puncheons. The millhouse was made of round logs from the bed rock up. In that mill was a pair of "nigger heads" or bowlders. The wheel was a wooden tub-wheel. The capacity of the mill was fifteen bushels of corn per day. For toll, the miller took oneeighth. The mill made good meal. With the high water of the spring of 1852 the mill was entirely washed away. Immediately following this, Mr. Terhune put up a frame mill for grinding both wheat and corn. In the autumn of 1852 the saw mill was in operation, then there came a freeze, much ice drifted down the Nodaway and lodged above the dam, the river rose on account of the gorge, and washed out eighty feet around the end of the dam, the water running in the new channel eight feet deep. Mr. Terhune worked all winter and stopped the wash around the dam so that the mill ran again and was in excellent order. He sold out his mill in 1853 to Rankin Russell, who became the founder of the town of Quitman.

Mr. Terhune then moved to Andrew county and went onto his large farm, remained three years, and then moved to Maryville, purchasing a farm of eighty acres, formerly owned bv James Ray, for one thousand two hun- dred dollars. In i860 he bought five hundred acres adjoining Maryville on the southeast; this he sold in 1878. When he came to Nodaway county he had a steam saw mill two and a half miles east of Maryville. Later he kept tavern, run a store and dealt in live stock.

Having thus outlined the comings and goings of many of the pioneers of this county, who located in what is now Polk township, we will make a list of settlers, the greater part of whom settled from half a mile to three miles in one direction or the other from Maryville, and all these effected their settlement prior to 1850: Jesse Harris, James Ingles, John Mozingo, James Vaughn, William Ingles, Green McCafferty, Daniel Swearingen, John Scott, C. S. Burns, Henry Swearingen, Sr., John Scott, C. S. Burns, L. M. Jester, A. T. Jenkins, Amos Graham, John Saunders, L. B. Torrance, Andrew Jordan, William Bowen, James Saunders, William Saunders, Benjamin Tor¬ rance, Benjamin F. Simms, John Belew, John Trosper, Peter Trosper, Isaac

There are three town plats within this township, Maryville, Bedison and a part of Wilcox. All three are situated along the line of the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific railroad.

Wilcox is located six and three-tenths miles by rail and eight miles by wagon road northwest of Maryville. It was named for B. F. Wilcox, who was the owner of two hundred acres of land where now stands the town. His home was in Hamden Junction. Ohio. The Western Improvement Com¬ pany of Missouri, composed of W. H. Blodgett, N. F. Grover and J. G. Anderson, laid out the town in the fall of 1879. They bought of Mr. Wilcox eighty acres of land at ten dollars an acre. They platted about twenty-five acres into lots. The place is located on the southeast quarter of section 32, township 65, range 36, and the south quarter of the northwest quarter of section 33, township 65. range 36. The depot, the first structure in the place, was completed in December, 1879.

The second building was a blacksmith shop by Bickett & Stanhope, com¬ pleted in February, 1880. Kirkpatrick & Son then added a small grocery to the place and R. A. Burge soon erected a store building.

A good school house was completed in October, 1881, and Miss Minnie Ulrich taught the school, at which fifty-five were in attendance. Religious services were soon held by both branches of the Methodist Episcopal church in the school house.

The first marriage in the town was French Carter and Celine Hefflin, in September, 1881. The first birth in Wilcox was a son to Mr. and Mrs. Solomon Cain, during the month of September, 1880. The first death was that of Mrs. Henry Shell, November 1, 1881.

In 1882 this hamlet had a population of about sixty; its present enumera¬ tion is about double this number. The business at first was in the hands of Boothe & Glaze, druggists; J. T. Glaze, physician; Mr. Nienhause, general merchandise; J. S. Phillips, postmaster; Michael Ryan, boarding house; N. J. Stratton, grain dealer; A. D. White, hotel, and A. L. Bickett blacksmith.

Bedison is a small hamlet with a plat of four blocks, situated on the northwest quarter of section 6, township 63, range 35, in the extreme south¬ eastern corner of Polk township. It is a new station point on the line of the Wabash system and is about eight miles southeast of Maryville. It is simply a station and shipping point.